Method and apparatus for beam warping



J1me 1954 T. E. WATSON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM WARPING Filed Dec. 3, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

I WARM (gm-MW T. E. WATSON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM WARPING June 22, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 3, 1949 m mzl p IN V EN TOR.

June 22, 1954 T E w so 2,681,497

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM WARPING Filed Deb. 5, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet s (0 |fl\ -t I 2 f 93 i 5; I

1 ldi n W F d) N r- 2 n INVENTOR.

9M 5' W -0 BY June 22,1954 T. E. WATSON 2,681,497 METHOD AND APzgggTus FOR BEAM WARPING Filed D90. 3, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIE-.4

INVENTOR. 51km W41,

WKW

AT TY.

Patented June 22, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM WARPING chusetts Application December 3, 1949, Serial No. 130,951

19 Claims.

This invention relates in general to yarn winding methods and mechanism, and in particular to beam warping, and has as its object the improvement of beam warpers to eliminate a number of the well-known faults and drawbacks existing in prior machines of this type, and also to increase the utility of beam warpers through making possible their use in new fields of yarn preparation.

A primary object of the invention is to achieve uniform density of the warp beam being wound. The lack of such uniform density is a common fault present to a greater or less degree under varying circumstances in all prior beam warpers with which I am acquainted, and is caused both by unequal tension in the yarns as wound and by variations in the pressure applied to the surface of the wound mass. Pressure must be applied to the wound mass throughout the winding to keep the profile level, in order that all of the multitude as the beam grows, and gravitates toward and against the driving drum, the pressure condensing the wound mass of yarns on the beam barrel unavoidably increases with the growth in size and weight of the beam, tending to produce a progressive increase in density; and in the spindle drive type of warperthe condensing roll or rolls were erratic and not dependable enough in their action to make the beam of uniform density throughout.

The lack of control of this necessary pressure in the prior common friction-drive machines results also in the local variations in density commonly termed flat places, i. e., elevations, hollows,-or other departures from a truly circular concentric periphery, particularly when yarns of synthetic fiber are being wound, which at the high speeds of warping employed in modern practice cause jumping and loss of contact between the wound mass on the beam and the cylinder driving the beam by frictional contact with the wound mass, and the wound mass of yarn is pounded by the cylinder when the two surfaces again come together after the jump, and is some times scuffed with injury to the yarn because the cylinder has increased its speed while out of contact. This blow by the cylinder pounds the turns of yarn, wedging them together and increasing the density locally, as well as impeding them from unwinding; toward the end of the winding of a. full beam the pounding often becomes very ill violent, interfering with the proper functioning of the warper and speeding up wear and tear on the machine. The sliding or skidding action when the brake is applied to the driving cylinder to stop the beam when an end breaks puts a shine on the yarns which is highly objectionable on delustered yarns such a acetate and viscose, and fractures filament yarn.

Another adverse result of the failure to achieve uniform beam density is the production of tapered or cone-shaped beams, resulting from the lack of means for preventing one end of the warp beams axle from moving away from the driving drum faster than the other end. This results either in trouble at the slashing operation or in waste at the loom, since in the latter case the surplus length of warps wound on the big end must be discarded when the warps at the small end begin to run out.

Likewise, any deficiency or failure of pressure upon the salvage warps during the winding permits the winding of these uncompressed warps to pile up and slough over inwardly onto the turns of adjacent warps, causing tangling and breakage upon unwinding and also enlarging the diameter of the beam locally to cause waste through excess length.

Another common cause of trouble in prior machines is the crossing of the windings of one end of yarn over or under the windings of the adjacent yarns, resulting from slack ends and also from the shifting of the yarns in the interval between their contact with the wound mass and their compression at the nip, one cause of which is the deflecting effect of raised and unevenly wound warps in the preceding layer on the beam. This crossing causes tangling and breakage on the warper, with loss of the broken end and the necessary securing of the free end to an adjacent end, and subsequent piecing of the broken end at the slasher or in re-beaming. As a result, the succeeding machine operation must be frequently interrupted by stopping the machine to pick up and piece up lost and broken ends, with resulting unequal tension of the pieced ends which makes bad weaving in the loom, as well as waste of warps on the loom beams because of uneven lengths resulting from the piecing; the running out of a number of ends means the termination of weaving with that beam, and the waste of the remaining warps left thereon.

The unequal tension present in the several yarns wound on the beam in prior warpers and already referred to as contributing to unequal density in the beam, is' a source of continuing trouble for another familiar reason: in addition to causing trouble at the slasher, this becomes serious at the loom, for slack ends make defective cloth.

A new field of utility is open to the beam warper capable of winding beams of strictly uniform density throughout. The method of dyeing warp while wound on section beams has long been contemplated and attempted, both for reduction of expense below the cost of package dyeing, and as a means of attaining greater uniformity of shade throughout the weaving of a run of cloth. Also, if the yarn can be run through the packaging, creeling, and beaming steps in the gray, and then dyed on the beam as required for particular jobs, the packaging machines, ereels, and beam warpers can remain in continuous production at all times, instead of having to shut down and change to a particular shade of dyed stock as far back in the process as the winders. But this manner of operating has not heretofore been very satisfactory, because no warper could Wind beams with sufficiently uniform density to make possible beam dyeing without shading because of the non-uniform penetration of the dyes resulting from unequal density in different parts of the beam.

The present invention aims to overcome these familiar faults and also other drawbacks of the prior type of wrapers, as well as to produce a machine making it practicable for the mills to realize the economies attainable through the practice of beam dyeing. V

The manner in which my novel beam warper attains these objects is set forth in the following description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a front elevation, and Fig. 3 a plan view of the improved warper.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the fluid pressure system which condenses, dons, and doifs the warp beam.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the manner of controlling the angle of yarn incidence upon the beam.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the result of the correct angle of yarn incidence.

In the improved warper, end frames I are united by cross girts 3 and pipe girts (not shown). The usual guide rod 9 is mounted on the flanges 5 of end frames by means of brackets H, the warps I3 passing under such guide rod, through drop wires (not shown) in the usual electrical warp stop motion l5 also mounted on flanges 5, through an expansion comb H of conventional zigzag type and over the delivery roll l5 of customary form, whence the warps descend into contact with the driving drum 2| of more or less standard character and covered with cork or other frictional surfacing 23, which drum presses the descending sheet of warps against the barrel of warp beam 21 and thus through lateral pressure of the warps against the barrel 25 rotates the beam and winds the warps thereon. Driving drum 2| is driven by electric motor 29 through a variable speed drive 3| which drives clutch pulley 33 by means of its pulley and intermediate belt 31. Push buttons 38 control the reversible motor 35 which changes the speed ratio of drive unit 3|. A sprocket 3Q driven through the clutch in turn drives sprocket 4| fixed on shaft 43 of drum 2| through intermediate chain d5. Theclutch is, operated by arms 41, 49, connected by link 5|, arm 49 being fixed on a rockshaft 52 biased by arms 53 and weights 55 to turn in a direction throwing out the clutch and applying the brake (not shown) of.conventional or any preferred form, actuated by weight 54 when permitted to do so. The'usual starting bar 5'! extending across the front of the warper is fixed on this shaft 52,

I each arm of such starting bar being made in two sections, 59 fixed to shaft 52, and 5| pivotally attached at $3 to 59 so that the transverse portion of the starting bar can be swung up out of the way of the operative in piecing up broken ends on beam 21. The starting bar and its associated parts referred to are held in running position by rod 55 which has a notch in its lower end engaged by the detent of electric latch 69, of known construction, the bar being disengaged to permit weights 54 and 55 to move the parts into stopping position when a falling drop-wire in warp stop motion l5 energizes the latch 69; manual stop buttons lfido the same. These parts and their manner of operation are mainly well known and conventional in beam warpers.

In accordance with the invention, the warpbeam 21 on its conventional axle H is mounted:

' ing and securing, the axle being borne in antifriction bearings 8|. Each carriage I3 is mounted on pairs of rolls 83 riding on top of the flange of track 15, and is equipped with pairs of additional rolls 85 mounted on studs in the depending side plates of carriage 13 which straddle the flange, these rolls 85 engaging beneath the flange to hold carriage 'ie from displacement therefrom.

To adjust the warp beam 21 axially to fit over the driving drum 2| with its heads 26 equallyspaced from the ends of the drum, the upper part 14 of each carriage, holding the bearings 8|, is made separate from the lower art having the wheels 83, 85, the two parts being in dovetailed transversely slidable relation as shown at 82 in Fig. 1, and a hand-wheel 84 is provided to rotate a screw 86 held in upper part 14 against endwise motion and engaging with part 13 to shift the upper part 14 with bearing 8| lateral-- ly when revolved. The portion of axle H of the beam which is received in bearing 8| is reduced in diameter and shouldered at its resumption of full diameter to engage the end of bearing 8| so that inward movement of the upper part of either carriage shifts the beam axially.

To hold beam 21 up to driving drum 2|, so as to impart the necessary rotation to the beam to effect the winding, each of the two carriages 13 is connected to the outer end of a piston rod 87 having thereon a piston 89 operated by fluid pressure and working in a cylinder 9|, Figs. 1,

2 and 5, fixed on a shelf 93 supported by webs 95' on the inside of frame members I so that its.

axis is parallel to the track '55 on which carriage 13 moves.

either oil, water, or air, the preferred fluid being oil, is fed into the cylinder at each side of Fluid under pressure, which maybe Because the upper part 14 of each carriage with the drum, the fluid pressure cylinders 9| perform a number of additional functions. Of these, perhaps the most critical is that of maintaining a predetermined constant degree of pressure between drum 2| and the wound mass accumulating on the barrel 25 of the beam, throughout the winding of the beam. To this end, the fluid pressure cylinders must maintain an unvarying resistance to the movement of the beams axis away from the drum. In order to attain this, the

working fluid is fed to the two ends of the respective cylinders through pipes 91, 99, from a storage tank IIiI, Fig. 4, by a constant pressure pump I03 driven by its electric motor I05, the delivery of the pump passing through a pressure control valve I231. This valve I01 is governed by a, remote control valve I08 which latter along with its supplemental oil pressure indicator I09 showing the pressure being attained by the setting of valves I01 and I08 are located on the control panel III, Fig. 2, mounted on the left-hand side frame of the warper handy to the operator's station.

Remote control valve I08 merely by-passes a part of the oil propelled by pump I03 back to tank IN, to accomplish the variation in the pressure of the oil admitted to the cylinders 9|, as shown in Fig. 4. The working portion of the discharge from pressure control valve I01 is brought via pipe line 3 to a 4-way valve H5 also on panel II I.

Omitting for the moment the description of the use of the fluid pressure cylinders to put the beam in position, and assuming that it is in such working position, the 4-way valve is then set so that oil from line H3 is directed into pipe line H1 and eventually via pipe lines 91 to the end of each cylinder containing the piston rod 81, so as to hold the beam against driving drum 2| with a pressure predetermined by the setting of remote control valve I08 and maintained constant in degree throughout the growth of the beam from the beginning of the winding until it has attained its full completed diameter. As will be apparent, oil expelled from the said ends of cylinders 9| by the outward movement of pistons 89 incident to the growth in the diameter of the wound mass on the beam is simply forced reversely through pipes 91, I I1, the 4-way valve I I5, and line I I3 to escape from pressure control valve I01 through the by-pass line in which remote control valve I08 is located. Thus the operation of the invention structure to attain constant density of the beam throughout the winding is It has been found in practice that thense of. identical pistons andcylindersat each end of the;

warp beam in the present structure is not sumcient to attain equal rates of movement at the two ends of the beam, possibly because of unavoidable variations in the dimensions of apparently identical parts. It has also been found that unequal length of travel and resistance to flow of the piston-operating fluid also varies the rate of advance permitted to the two respective ends ofthe beam, and so does unequal friction of the pistons, piston rods, carriages 13, and other parts- These difierences in rates of piston travel not only put difliculties in the way of attaining equal.

rates of outward movement of the two ends of the beam as it fills, but also complicated the step or" putting an empty beam into winding position in the warper, because after the new beam is installed in bearing 11 and the caps 19 thereoflocked by their thumb screws, pistons 89 are ac-: tuated by fluid pressure through pipes 91 to drawthe piston rods and carriages 13 inward and thus bring the barrel 25 of the new beam against the driving surface of drum 2|. In the winding of rayon, nylon and all synthetic yarns the construction of the improved warper leaves only inch clearance between each end of drum 2| and the inward surface of the proximate head 26, in

order to avoid leaving any uncompressed selvage warps to pile up above the general level of the compressed windings and slough over inwardly onto adjacent warps to cause tangling and breakage during the unwinding. Hence the new beam must be advanced to drum 2| with the axes of these two members in truly parallel relation, in order to prevent the flanges of the beam from striking the drum and jamming so as to prevent further movement.

To solve these related problems of parallel outward movement of the beam being wound, and parallel inward movement of the new beam, special precision type flow-control valves N9 of known construction and their auxiliary checkvalves |2I and associated flow conduits, all of known construction and arrangement, are installed between and in communication with fluid supply line I I1 and the two lines 91 communicating with cylinders 9| on the piston rod side of pistons 89. These flow-control valves meter the rate of flow of the oil into the said rod ends of cylinders 9| to make the two ends of the new beam advance toward the drum at the same rate, and with the same valve setting meter the flow outward from such ends of the cylinders resulting from the growth of the beam, in order to produce an equal rate of recession of both ends, the pressure differential set by valve I08 maintaining the wanted unvarying pressure between drum and wound mass. Suitable branches I23 in line I11, and I25 in line 91 are provided to make the flow always pass through flow-control valves 9 in the same direction, whether going to or returning from the piston rod ends of cylinders 9|, the check-valves |2| in these branches restricting the flow to this one direction through the flow-control valves.

Regulation of the flow-control valves II9 to attain equal rates of travel of the two ends of I beam 21 both to prevent jamming as the beam moves inward and to prevent tapered beams as the latter move outward, as just explained, is

efiected by manual adjustment of control knobs I21 provided on the respective valves. flow-control valves as indicated are connected The two resisttheir movement, as will be understood. The same setting of 4-way valve H5 is-maintained' both during the mounting of the beam and throughout the subsequent winding.

- Thus both in-presenting the beam and in thereafter holding it to the drum, with the same setting of both the flow-controlv valves and the 4- way valve, the flow-control valves perform their function of equalizing the rate oftravel of the two pistons.

These flow-control valves and their checkvalves are mounted on a panel (not shown) enclosed within the removable housing 32, which also covers the tank 3 I, motors 29 and 36, pump I03, and other parts-at the rear of the warper.

The hydraulic mechanism under discussion is used to doff the full beam onto spaced ramps l3l, Fig. 1, at the completion of the winding, by shifting the 4-way valve H5 so as to connect pipe ll3with the pipe line 89 in communication via its branches with the head end of each cylinder 9i. This setting of the valve connects pipe line H! to a line I35 discharging into tank iill, thus venting the fluid at the piston rod end of each cylinder 9|. With the pressure in line H! thus relieved, the pressure delivered by line 99 to the head ends of cylinders 91 forces pistons 89, piston 'rods 81, and the ends of beam axle 'll backward to roll the full beam onto the ramps, bearing caps 19 having been slacked 01f, and thus the slight rise of axle H lifts the axle out of the carriages 73. At the end of the outward stroke of' the piston rods, the flanges 26 of the beam rest on the level top of ramps l3l.

By the method and means thus described, the wound mass of yarn on the beam is kept fiat and level in profile and subjected to pressure of constant and unvarying strength throughout the entire winding from start'to finish. This pres sure is predetermined and under full control of the operator, and capable of being duplicated in one beam after another, and capable of being set at any value wanted for the work in hand, and the axis of the beam is maintained ever parallel to that of the driving drum. Thus the variations in density of the beam caused hitherto by departures from uniform pressure, contact, or parallelism between the driving drum and the beam are avoided.

The perfected control achieved by the invention structure of the pressure between the driving drum and the wound mass and thus the attainment of a truly cylindrical wound beam make it possible to equalize the differences in tension of the individual ends as they reach the warper from the creel, and thus notonly to eliminate or minimize the differences in beam density arising from this source but also to obviate the presence of slack or tight ends upon unwinding the beam at the slasher or in the loom. Differences in the tension of yarns of the same size the tensioned yarns and the squeeze exerted upon these slacker yarns at the nip results in a lengthwise squeezing and extensionof the section-lying within the pressure zone of the nip; at the sametime the tighter yarns in the sheet, which are smaller in diameter through the action of the tension present inthem as they arrive at the warper, are not pressed so severely at. the nip and are unchanged or little changed in length at this point. That is, the rolls meter out'the fibrous material in the slack ends as they are fed for- Ward by the rolls. This metering action holding back the stock contained in the slack ends is assisted by the differential driving action of the two rolls involved in the propelling of the yarns by nipping the latter between them: the driving drum. is pulling forward on one side of each yarn, while the wound mass on the beam, being driven frictionally from the yarn which is driven by frictional engagement withthe drum, is holding back on the opposite side of the yarn, around the yarns axis from the center of contact of the yarn with the driving drum. The tight yarns are spared the greater part of this action, because they are smaller and less tightly gripped.

The slack and therefore fat ends thus are compressed the most at the nip, through being gripped the tightest, While the tight ends are not squeezed so much. Thus, through equalizing the cross-sections of all the yarns their lengths are correspondingly equalized beyond the nip point, thus making the tension uniform, since their tension is inversely proportional to their length. That is, by holding back at the nip on the material present in the slack, fatends, the linear speed of the'slack ends at the back of the nip is reduced, which puts more tension in these ends as they emerge from the nip, to bring them up to average tension.

With the profile of the wound mass building up on the beam held fiat and true by the perfected control of the pressure and of the parallel, relation between the driving drum and the beam, this manner of operation is attained in the present machine.

In order to get this metering action on the stock, it is essential that the yarns be free from frictional engagement with any surfaces, whether of the drum or the wound mass, as they enter the nip, because otherwise the yarns cling to the surface they engage and the effect does not occur. Hence it is desired that the yarns enter the nip in such manner as to make simultaneous contact with the opposing surfaces of the drum 2i and the beam 2'! at exactly diametrically opposed points a, b, on the sides of each yarn. This relationship is shown in Fig. 6, with a nearly full beam and with the yarn diameter greatly exaggerated to show the effect. The yarn should bisect the available space above the nip between the two rolls at all times in spite of' the change in diameter of the beam during winding.- Theoretically, keeping the yarns course always at right angles to the line joining the centers of the beam and of the drum, 1. e.,, at a true tangent to both, would accomplish this if the yarn had no thickness. But because it has thickness, and. because the change of curvature of the beams surface as it builds up and its. diameter gI'OWs compels a change in angle of approach of the yarn if simultaneous contact with drum and beam is to be had, as shown in Fig. 6, the track 15, along which the beam backs off in proportion to the growth in diameter of the wound. mass, is disposedat an oblique angle to the line. joining the centers of the beam and the drum.

The point of first contact of the yarn with the wound mass on the beam rises as the beams diameter grows; to match this rise, the point of contact of the yarn with the drum should be correspondingly raised. If the beam axis recedes on a line joining the centers of beam and drum, this point of contact with the drum would not rise, while that of the wound mass would. So, by setting the track 15 oblique to the line joining the said centers, the point of contact with the drum can be made to rise to match the rise of the point of contact of the yarn with the wound mass. Thus troublesome alternative resorts like shifting the guide roll H as the beam fills are avoided.

In practice, the angle of approach of the yarns to the beam is established by locating measuring roll [9, Fig. 5, so that the descending yarns I3 will be at right angles to the line joining the centers d, e, of beam 2? and drum 2| when the wound mass 21 is of exactly the diameter of the drum. (i=f.) For example, the angle of track 15 t0 the line joining centers is attained by disposing the track in horizontal relation and the center d of beam 21 at an interval g of 2%;- inches below the center 6 of the drum 2| when the latter has a diameter of 20 inches and the beam comprises a 10-inch barrel (h=) having 28-inch heads. In Fig. 5, the empty beam barrel is indicated at 25, and the full beam at 21*, to show the relative curvature of the beam surface at empty and at full stages, and to indicate how the angle of the line 0 joining centers of beam and drum changes with respect to the warps H to raise the point of initial contact of the warps with the driving drum as the beam fills, so as to keep point b opposite point a, Fig. 6, and thus enable the rolling,.squeezing pressure between the two surfaces to equalize the. tension in the several ends of yarn.

While I have illustrated and described a certain form in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. Mechanism for winding yarns on rolls or other supports having in combination a driving cylinder, means movable at right angles to the axis of the cylinder to hold a wound mass of yarn on a roll in contact with such cylinder,

fluid-pressure-controlled means resisting the movement of the roll-holding means away from the cylinder resulting from the increase in the diameter of the wound mass on the roll, and pressure-regulating means maintaining a constant degree of fluid pressure to resist the said movement of the roll.

2. Mechanism for winding yarns on rolls or other supports having in combination a driving cylinder, means movable at right angles to the axis of the cylinder to hold a wound mass of yarn on a roll in contact with such cylinder, fluid-pressure-controlled means pressing the rollholding means and the cylinder toward each other, and pressure-creating and regulating means maintaining a constant degree of fluid pressure holding both ends of the wound mass with equal pressure against the driving cylinder as the growth of the wound mass forces the roll away from the cylinder.

3. A beam warper having in combination a driving drum, supporting means for each end of the beam to be wound, a cylinder and fluidpressure-actuated piston in connection with the supporting means for each end of the beam, a source of supply of fluid under pressure, conduits connecting the source of supply and the cylinders, and means intermediate the source of supply and the cylinders automatically equalizing the rate of how of the fluid supplying the respective cylinders.

i. A beam warper having in combination a driving drum, supporting means for each end of the beam to be wound, a cylinder and fluid-pressure-actuated piston in connection with the supporting means for each end of the beam, a supply of fluid for the cylinders, and a flow-control valve in connection with each cylinder determining the rate of discharge of fluid from such cylinder.

5. A beam warper having in combination a driving drum, supporting means for each end of the beam to be wound, a cylinder and fluid-pressure-actuated piston in connection with the supporting means for each end or the beam, a supply I of fluid under pressure for the cylinders, a pressure control valve, and a flow control valve in connection with each cylinder determining both the rate of input of fluid into such cylinder and also the rate of discharge of fluid from such cylinder.

6. A beam warper having in combination a warp beam, a driving drum, supporting means for each end of the beam to be wound, a cylinder and fiuid-pressure-actuated piston in connection with the supporting means for each end of the beam, a supply of fluid under pressure for the cylinders, and a flow-control valve in connection with each cylinder, and conduits and check-valves in the latter compelling the fiuid from each cylinder to pass through its respective flow-control valve in the same direction whether going to or returning from such cylinder.

'7. A beam warper having in combination a warp beam, a driving drum, ways supporting the beam for movement to and from the drum with the beams axis moving in a path extending below the axis of the driving drum, means urging the beam toward the driving drum, and means guiding the warps in tangent relation to the beam at substantially a right angle to the plane extending through the axes of the beam and drum when the wound mass on the beam has the same diameter as the drum.

8. A beam warper having in combination a warp beam, a driving drum, means pressing the beam toward the drum, a roll guiding the warps in tangent relation to both the drum and the winding surface on the beam throughout the winding, and means shifting the point of tangency of the warps with the drum nearer to the said roll as the beam fills.

9. A beam warper having in combination a warp beam, a driving drum, means pressing the beam toward the drum, ways supporting the beam for movement of its axis in a plane oblique to the plane extending through the axes of the beam and the drum, and a roll guiding the warps in their approach to the drum and beam, the movement of the beams axis in the plane established by the ways and resulting from the growth of the beam causing a shift of the point of initial contact of the warps with the drum nearer to the guiding r011.

10. A beam warper having in combination a warp beam, a driving drum, horizontal tracks,

1 1 means movable on the tracks supporting the beam for movement of its axis toward and from the drums axis in a path extending below the drums axis, and a roll guiding the warps to the beam in a sheet overhanging the warp beam and making initial contact with beam and drum at substantially diametrically opposite points on the individual warps throughout the winding of the beam.

ILA beam warper having in combination a warp beam, means winding warps upon a beam, an axle supporting the beam, movable bearing means having sockets receiving the end portions of the beam axle, fluid-pressure-actuated pistons propelling the movable bearing means and thus the beam, and ramp means elevating the beam as the latter is propelled thereover by the pistons, whereby the axle is lifted out of the sockets.

12. The method of winding warps onto beams by frictional contact with a rotating cylinder which includes the steps of applying force derived from a common source of fluid pressure to the two ends of the beam, equalizing the rate of flow of the fluid pressure medium applying such force to the respective ends to hold its axis ever parallel to that of the rotating cylinder, and maintaining a substantially unvarying pressure between the beam and drum throughout the winding operation.

13. The method of winding warp beams which includes the steps of bringing the warps into winding contact with the beam while compressed to uniform thickness, and pressing the warps against the beam by pressure first applied to the warps at points diametrically opposite the points of initial contact of the warps with the beam.

14.. The method of equalizing the tension in the yarns of a warp which includes the steps of feeding the yarns in a sheet while compressing them to uniform thickness by pressure initially applied to the yarns at diametrically opposite points in the length of each yarn, and then winding them into a wound mass.

15. The method of equalizing the tension in the yarns of a warp which includes the steps of feeding the yarns in a sheet and compressing the yarns transversely in proportion to their individual thickness to equalize their cross-sections and thus their lengths.

16. In a beam warper, in combination, a warp beam, a driving drum, means rotatably supporting the ends of the warp beam with its barrel in contact with the drum throughout the length of such barrel, and fiuid-pressure-actuated cylin- 12 ders and pistons in connection with the respective ends of the warp beam putting and holding the beams' axis in parallel relation to the drums axis and compressing the warps to uniform thickness between the beam and the drum.

17. In a beam warper, in combination, a warp beam, a driving drum, means rotatably support ing the ends of the warp beam with its barrel in contact with the drum throughout the length of such barrel, and fluid-pressure-actuated cylinders and pistons in connection with the respective ends of the warp beam maintaining a predetermined constant degree of pressure between the beam barrel and the drum throughout the winding of the beam.

18. In a beam warper, in combination, a warp beam, a driving drum, means for rotatably supporting the ends of the warp beam with its barrel in contact with the drum throughout the length of such barrel, and fluid-pressure-actuated cylinders and pistons in connection with the respective ends of the warp beam putting and holding the beams axis in parallel relation'to the drums axis and holding the barrel against the drum compressing the warps with uniform pressure from start to finish of the winding of the beam.

19. In a beam warper, in combination, a driving drum, a warp beam, an axle supporting the beam, a carriage supporting each end of the axle, a track on which each carriage is shiftable toward and from the drum, and a fluid-operated piston moving each carriage along such track and alternatively resisting the movement of each carriage.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,093,913 Church Apr. 21, 1914 1,285,706 Hoe Nov. 26, 1918 1,780,892 Draper Nov. 4, 1930 2,194,078 Simonds Mar. 19, 1940 2,196,000 Richardson Apr. 2, 1940 2,382,760 Wiggerman Aug. 14, 1945 2,485,382 Howes Oct. 18, 1949 2,572,904 Bauer Oct. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 646,977 Germany June 24, 1937 668,554 Germany Dec. 5, 1938 676,482 Germany June 5, 1939 

